Entertainment

Google Wave: Is the World Ready?

On May 28th, tech circles went wild when Google revealed Google Wave at its Google I/O conference. The response to and the questions about the new communication platform were staggering. Is it something I should use? Is it a game-changer?Could it kill email itself?

This type of lofty rhetoric will always raise hopes and draw scrutiny. We want to believe that new and radical technologies like Wave will change the very way we live. And while our experiments with Wave have brought us to the conclusion that this platform may indeed be a game changer, it won't happen if there isn't widespread adoption. So instead of asking whether Wave will kill email, the better question to ask is this: Is the world ready for Wave-based communication?

It's All or Nothing with Wave

I have used Wave extensively since the sandbox preview became available, and I will tell you this: it breaks normal conversation conventions left and right. While it looks and feels like email in many ways, its unique hybrid of realtime and message-based communication takes some getting used to. Using applications in-wave, editing other people's messages, and integrating robots into your conversations are going to confuse and even scare people.

We know that the early adopters will use this (and forgive its flaws) in a heartbeat. The real question is whether or not its new approach to communication is a dealbreaker for the early majority and late adopters of the world.

Google Wave is asking people to do things that grind against the norm. And, while Google won't say it, its ultimate goal is to have you switch from email to Wave, ushering in a new era of web engagement. If Google's at the center of every person's web communication, it will build immense influence and gain unparalleled information on the web's billions of users. However, with high stakes likes these comes a high risk of failure.

Google Wave will either succeed spectacularly or completely bomb. There is no middle ground for a tool that is supposed to be as omniscient as email. If all of your friends aren't using it, then Wave isn't as useful as email, which kills its purpose. But the opposite is also true: if your friends switch over to wave communication and email dies off, you have no choice but to get an account as well.

Is the world ready for Google Wave? The final answer to that question could change the very foundation of the web.

Mashable
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